Plumpton, Fenech miss out as Cirovic names final squad for European Championship finals

Malta waterpolo national team coach Milan Cirovic on Sunday named his 15-man squad for the upcoming European Championship finals in Croatia which get underway next week.

The Montenegrin coach made his final decision on who will fill the 15 spots in the squad at the continental finals following the national team’s participation at the SportMalta Christmas International Tournament held at the newly unveiled pool at the Cottonera Sports Complex.

The national team struggled for performances in the quadrangular tournament which saw the team suffer defeats to Italy, France, and the Netherlands.

On Sunday, Cirovic named his squad which featured two notable omissions.

Ben Plumpton, who is on the books of San Ġiljan and is currently plying his trade in the Italian Serie A1 with RN Camogli, failed to make the cut in the squad.

The other player who was not included in the squad was Alec Fenech, of Neptunes.

The national team is taking part in the European Championship finals for a fifth successive time and face a tough task on their hands as they were drawn into a tough group that features Serbia, Germany and Israel.

This time around, the Malta squad is full of young players who will be making their first appearance in the continental finals, such as goalkeeper Benjamin Busuttil, Mark Castillo, Matthias Azzopardi, Jayden Cutajar, Jake Bonavia, Gianni Farrugia, and Jake Cachia.

The team will be relying on the experience of goalkeeper Jake Tanti, Nicholas Bugelli, Jeremy Abela and Jake Muscat as they look to repeat the excellent result achieved two years ago when Malta finished 14th.

Malta open their commitments at the European Championships on January 5 when they face Germany in Dubrovnik.